Fishing Hole

changing weather patterns has made travel to traditional hunting grounds increasingly unreliable.

The social impacts of climate change are becoming more visible. Watt-Cloutier recalls several members of her community losing their connection to the land and falling into alcohol abuse and domestic violence.

“I share these stories,” writes Watt-Cloutier, “to show how quickly in my own life, in less than twenty years, the tumultuous changes from the outside were affecting the very core and soul of the grounded, reflective, caring hunter spirit of our men.”

Ashlee Consolo, director of the Labrador Institute in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, echoes her statements.

“The land is not just the land for them. It’s family, it’s kin, it’s part of you. Every aspect of Inuit culture grows from the land,” she writes in The Guardian. “When you’re the first generation that can’t do that anymore, that can’t follow your ancestors on to the land, think about how devastating that can be from a cultural standpoint… These changes are disrupting hundreds of years of knowledge and wisdom and connection to the land. That’s a scary thing for humanity,” Cunsolo said.

One year into the global coronavirus pandemic, and I am more thankful for the Northern Wilds of my home than ever before. The land has given me space to exercise and be socially distant from others when needed. More importantly, I find a deep sense of purpose when I have things to do that connect me to the landscape around me, whether I am scraping moose hide for days on end, planting my garden in the spring, paddling along the coast of Lake Superior or hunting and gathering wild foods. The land is my teacher, my playground, my source of inspiration and spiritual sustenance.

But as a settler who lives in a city and embraces Western customs and values, who was not raised in a hunting or fishing family that relied on wild land for survival, it’s easy to exercise my privilege and take these things for granted. After all, grocery stores with fresh produce are only minutes away. And I join many others in feeling a sense of grief and futility in the wake of a changing climate.

As Sheila Watt-Cloutier says, the world needs to realize that our environments, our communities all around the world are not separate, and that our shared atmosphere and oceans, not to mention our human spirit, connect us all.

“It is imperative to change the dialogue about climate change and the environmental degradation of our planet,” she writes. “This will require us to move how we conceptualize this issue from the head to the heart, where all change happens.”

Moose hide, frost-scraped in February. | JULIA PRINSELAAR

BY JOE SHEAD

WHY GO: Two Island Lake is only about a half-hour drive from Thunder Bay. It’s a good action lake for smallmouth bass and northern pike and you’ll be on paved roads for all but the last mile. ACCESS: To get there from Thunder Bay, travel west on Dawson Road (Highway 102) and turn north onto Dog Lake Road (Highway 589). Continue north on Dog Lake Road for roughly 25 km/15.5 miles, then turn left onto Two Island Lake Road. Dog Lake Road is paved, but you’ll have to travel about a mile on gravel as you turn onto Two Island Lake Road. The boat launch is on the southwest side of the lake, just to the west of the long peninsula that extends north from the south shore. The parking lot has space for about four rigs. The launch is fairly shallow, but most average-sized fishing boats should be able to launch here. GAME SPECIES PRESENT: Smallmouth bass and northern pike. VITALS: “The appeal to Two Island Lake is that you can be to the lake within about a 30-minute ride from Thunder Bay and be catching fish within eyeshot of the public access point,” said Davis Viehbeck, conservation officer for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. “The lake has lots of rocky structure, making it a great smallmouth fishery. Anglers should use caution when navigating the lake for submerged hazards, especially in the north arm.” Viehbeck added that anglers catch good numbers of smallmouth bass, averaging 1.5 to 2 pounds and pike averaging 3 to 5 pounds. “Suspending jerkbaits like #8 and #10 X-Raps, tube jigs in brownish tones, crayfish imitation baits, Senko-style stickbaits and topwaters are all you need to catch both the plentiful bass and pike in the lake,” he said. Viehbeck added that the lake is fairly developed, as local lakes go. Smelt are present, but despite a failed stocking attempt decades ago, there are no walleyes in Two Island. BONUS BROOKIES: On occasion, anglers catch brook trout in Two Island. “The brookies are kind of like unicorns, but when you get them, they’re big,” Viehbeck said. He suspects these fish enter the lake from a creek at the north end of the lake.

TWO ISLAND LAKE, ONTARIO

Dog Lake Rd. #589

Two Island Lake Rd.